White Men Can't Jump
Hulu | Release Date (Streaming): May 19, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
13
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 18, 2023
White Men Can’t Jump 2023 is the second remake for director Calmatic this year, following the disastrous “House Party” from last January, and while it’s not as clumsy or weirdly tone-deaf as that bomb, the screenplay by Kenya Barris (“black-ish”) and Doug Hall misses a couple of major opportunities, including the decision to have the most dramatic development of the entire movie take place offscreen. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeMay 21, 2023
It’s slick, unchallenging and perfectly enjoyable, but it’s hard to see the point of a remake of Ron Shelton’s 1992 mismatched buddy movie about a pair of basketball hustlers who reluctantly team up. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredSandeep SandhuMay 19, 2023
If you like the 1992 classic you might enjoy this update, but if you don't have the time to kill, it's probably worth sticking to the original. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandMay 18, 2023
This thing should be light on its feet, fleet and fast and fun. Instead, it drags down the court, taking plenty of shots, but never quite sinking any of them. Read full review
55
CNNBrian LowryMay 19, 2023
At its best this White Men Can’t Jump conveys the fragility of hoop dreams, while tackling what former players do with their lives once the promise of signing bonuses and sponsorship deals appears to have fizzled. (NBA star Blake Griffin, incidentally, is among the producers, joining several of his contemporaries in establishing a Hollywood toehold while still suiting up.)... On that level, at least, the movie works reasonably well. It’s the hitches in the rest of its game that prevent it, even as a streaming proposition, from being anything close to a slam dunk. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 19, 2023
Harlow makes a surprisingly strong impression in his film acting debut, signaling that more big screen roles are in his future, while Walls provides the requisite simmering intensity and formidable physicality as the anger-prone Kamal. Read full review
50
The PlaylistNick AllenMay 18, 2023
Perhaps worst of all, the movie is light on the laughs meant to come from trash-talking; the comedy just doesn’t have the crispiness it needs. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussMay 18, 2023
This new iteration may be interesting from a cultural perspective, if not particularly worthwhile on its own — unless you’re a Jack Harlow fan. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTimothy CogshellMay 18, 2023
The remake of WMCJ, also set in the Black communities of greater Los Angeles, fancies itself as having more on its mind than the original flick, but the ball rarely makes it through the hoop. Read full review
50
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiMay 18, 2023
It’s a mismatched buddy comedy which tries — and sometimes succeeds — to tell an emotional story about processing failure and shame, but it doesn’t have anything terribly interesting to say about it. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayMay 18, 2023
While trying to make the original’s free-flowing, frequently surprising plot fit into a more conventional screenplay arc, Barris and Hall have sapped a lot of its vitality. The new version may be more current, but the old one rings more true. Read full review
40
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiMay 21, 2023
The drama feels undercooked, and the characters barely escape one-dimensionality. Read full review
40
The GuardianAndrew LawrenceMay 18, 2023
White Men Can’t Jump didn’t miss the first time, and it continues to resonate like a Shaquille O’Neal alley-oop. The reboot, a basic nostalgia play, shouldn’t scam anyone. Read full review
40
The Daily BeastNick SchagerMay 18, 2023
Director Calmatic sanitizes every aspect of his source material until the entire thing looks, sounds and feels like a Disney sitcom. Thus, it’s no surprise when things get self-help maudlin. Read full review
38
The Associated PressJake CoyleMay 18, 2023
This limp, half-hearted, breezy remake makes some modest improvements. The film, directed by Calmatic, bounces to a hip-hop beat and the gameplay action is smoother. But the drop off in personality from that original trio is like going from the Lakers to the G-League. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 17, 2023
Take away the point-by-point comparison, even accepting the jump shots and backdoor cuts on the court, this remake still never gets off the ground. Read full review
34
Paste MagazineJacob OllerMay 18, 2023
The confused comedy waddles onto the court as confidently as a kid in an oversized hand-me-down jersey. But why would this derivative filmmaking aspire to anything else? It’s all just set dressing for Jack Harlow’s brick of a big-screen debut. Read full review
30
PolygonJoshua RiveraMay 25, 2023
The new White Men Can’t Jump will likely struggle to linger in anyone’s head the day after they watch it. Every character interaction is straightforward, every motivation and foible is stated out loud. Every joke is delivered for the camera, not the characters. Read full review
30
Rolling StoneChris VognarMay 19, 2023
The updated, oversized mayhem is emblematic of a culture and a movie in which the outrageous is too often deemed an improvement, and showbiz suits can’t seem to leave cult classics well enough alone. Thinner than Victor Wembanyama and ever eager to please, the new White Men tries way too hard and acts like a teammate more interested in hamming it up than hitting the open man. Read full review
30
VarietyTodd GilchristMay 19, 2023
Director Calmatic’s 2023 remake not only fails to recapture the energy of the first film but seems to misunderstand the cinematic language of streetball, and is largely uninterested in utilizing stars Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow except as delivery systems for exposition. Read full review
30
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 18, 2023
This version has little quirk and less spark. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsMay 19, 2023
The film is as unimaginative as it is corny, as dull as it is cheap, and as unfulfilling as any cash grab for a well-known property could be. Read full review
25
ColliderChase HutchinsonMay 18, 2023
The problem just keeps coming back to Harlow. Not only is he just out of his depth in hitting the necessary comedic notes, but the hollowness of his performance also becomes impossible to overlook when his character goes through a rough patch and must find redemption. Read full review
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